Glenn Whelan

Was training 2 days a week, plenty of Hearts fans think he was more than good enough for them and things just didn't work out, he didn't magically turn from one of the best players in a top Championship team to a League 1 player over the Summer, but that doesn't suit the anti-Whelan narrative the majority of our fans who clearly haven't a clue about football have.

Hearts and the entire Championship mustn't have a clue about football then, as well as the majority of Irish fans, for letting one of the best players in a top team in their league go to Scotland and get released. 

He has been very good for us.  Hopefully he will get a club soon.  
 

Another idiotic statement to make.

He wasn't one of the best players in that Villa side in The Championship last season so lets not kid ourselves there either.

Mings, Grealish, McGinn, Elmo, Abraham etc were their main players so you're wrong.

We need to debunk this myth that a holding midfielder is crucial to the way we play, it really isn't and I would go as far as saying a holding midfielder is probably one of the most redundant positions in our set up! 

1. We don't start attacks from our kick outs (i.e. 6 drops in to receive the ball from the keeper to help start the attack)

2. We play a long ball game, which bypasses our midfield thus limiting their impact on a game even further.

3. When we don't have the ball we tend to sit back with 11 men behind the ball, which would make the centre of the pitch fairly compact. (Yet still we got cut open on many occasions times this campaign)

4. Due to us not pressing from the front space tends to be at a premium for the opposition to work in because they know if they go direct Duffy will hoover up most aerial threats!

5. I would also argue despite having numerous players behind the ball when out of possession we defend unbelievably deep also which again would limit the role of our holding midfielder.

Most modern day holding midfielders will try to engage with the opposition higher up the pitch, whereas Glenn plays so deep you would swear he was a third centre half.

"I can say he is a good type. He wants to take the responsibility but I have seen only three games. Do you have the feeling he is a leader in this group? It's not Glenn's fault – but a real leader in the centre of the pitch? Sorry. Maybe I missed it. Michael Smith tries to take responsibility on the pitch.

This is not a point in favour of Cullen or against Whelan but more a general one - Risk of what? Losing? We went with the 'tried and tested' against Switzerland. Lost. Went with it against Denmark needing a win. Didnt get it. Went with it against Georgia. Didn't win, never looked like winning. 

In general, i don't understand the mindset. In general football terms, sticking with the tried and tested means "I know the abilities of these 11 players, and based on this i trust them to get the job done and get us the result we need". In Ireland, it means "I know the abilities of these 11 players". They've been tried, they've been tested, they've succeeded on rare occasions, more often than not they fail. I don't understand why those predictably unfavourable odds are such a comfort to people and that it would be insanity to introduce a young player doing well for his club that might offer us something different. That applies all over the pitch.

Berra has been absolutely abysmal for a while though. It is clearly a season too far for him.

How come you never add any analysis on what the likes of Glenn offers this Irish side in a football context i.e. on the pitch. 

All you ever do is whinge and moan when people aren't saying what you want to hear about your favourites, it's embarrassing.

Basically you either go over the top praising certain players you like or you go over the top defending them without actually talking about what they actually do or bring to the team.

The depth of your comments are basically - Glenn always shows up, Glenn has 90 caps, Glenn is a lovely bloke etc